Sprengel



(N0 Model.)

H. J. P..SPRENGEL.

OBTAINING SULPHURIG ACID BY THE AID OF WASTE STEAM.

NO. 357,107. Patented Feb. 1, 1887.

4 R l- 91 E u g E 5 E3 wheuvasx l I7ZV7OZ 7 a i JfZ/WJZA 162962,

NITED STATES' PATENT OFFICE.

HERMAN N J. P. SPEENGEL, OE PIMLICO, COUNTY OF MIDDLESEX, ENGLAND.

OBTAINING S ULPHURIC ACID BY THE AID OF WASTE STEAM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent; No. 357,107, datedFebruary 1, 1887.

Application filed September 28, 1886. Serial No. 214,769.

To all whom it may concern..-

Be it known that I, HERMANN JOHANN 'PHILIP SPRENGEL, a subject of theEmperor of Germany, residing at Pimlico, in the county of Middlesex,England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in theProduction of Sulphuric Acid, (for which I have obtained a patent inGreat Britain, No. 10,798, bearing date August 24, 1886,) and of whichthe following is a specification,

Mechanical operations-such as the pumping of water and the compressingof air-absorb in sulphuric-acid works which possess Gay Lussacand Glovertowers a not inconsiderable amount of steam, and consequently of fuel.This steam, after having spent its energy in the engines, is, as a rule,allowed to escape into the open air. It is obvious that this escapingsteam-the so-called exh aust-steam might render a second service byvirtue of its chemical properties, if it could be made to substitute,without much trouble and expense,

a part of another quantity of steam, which in sulphuric-acid works hasto be raised almost entirely for the sake of a chemical operationviz.,the formation of acid inside the leaden chambers. This problem I havesolved in the following manner.

Be it remembered that the work done by a steam-engine is the result ofthe difference of pressure which exists alternately 011 the two sides ofits piston. Supposing this pressure be thirty pounds per square inch onthe one side and mi on the other, the work done will be due to thedifference of those thirty pounds per square inch hence the same workmay be done by the same engine if the pressure be kept at forty poundsper square inch on the one side of its piston and at ten pounds persquare inch on the other, for the difference of pressure remainsunaltered, or thirty pounds per square inch.

, In factories of an average size not more than one steam boiler serves,as a rule, to supply steam of a uniform pressure of about thirty poundsper square inch both to the engines and to the chambers. As, however, apress ure of ten pounds per square inch is ample and to spare for thesteam entering the chambers, Inow, in harmony with the above view, firstraise the pressure in such a steam-boiler (Nospecime: s.) Patented inEngland August 24, 1886, No. 10,798.

by ten pounds per square inchi. e, in this case'from thirty pounds toforty pounds; second, drive the engines at this higher pressure;

third, make theexhaust-steam from the en- M g'ines enter the chambers ata pressure of ten pounds per square inch; and, fourth, supplement, whenneeded, any deficiency of steam in the chambers by another quantity ofsteam of the same pressure-i. 6., steam of ten pounds per squareinch-drawn from this very boiler, which is kept at a constant andregular pressure of forty pounds per square inch. How this may bedone'in a convenient and inexpensive manner will be readily understoodcape valve, S. These two valves are weighted in such a manner that assoon asthe pressure in e 7 becomes less than ten pounds per square inchthe valve It will admit steam from the boiler until a pressure of tenpounds is re-established in e f, while as soon as the pressure in e fbecomes more than ten pounds per square inch the valve S will allow anescape of steam into the open air until a pressure of ten pounds isreestablished in e f. In other words, and by way of an example, aforty-pounds pressure in the boiler will lift and overcome a thirtypoundweight, plus a nine-and-one-half-pound counter-pressure of steam at R,while a tenand-one-half-pounds pressure'in of will lift a ten-poundweight at S. Thus it will be seen that one boiler and one system ofpipes are sufficient to supply simultaneously both the engines with highpressure steam and the chambers with low-pressure steam. To insure whatis much to be desired, an even, constant,

and regular pressure in e f, itis essential that these valves R and Sshould be sensitive, or, in technical language, not be liable to stick.

M and M represent manometers for indi- ICO eating the pressure insidethe boiler A and the pipe ef, while :0 represents a steam-trap and anoutlet for condensed steam, which in the form of water will collect inthe pipes above m.

In the same way, as the exhaust-steam from only one pump is shown hereto be utilized, so the exhaust-steam from two or more pumps may beutilized by connecting the same with e f, for instance at 0. As anexperimental proof it may be mentioned that by utilizing in this mannerthe exhaust-steam from four small engines attached to the water-pumpsand aircompressors at the works of the Lawes Chemical Manure Company,Creeks Mouth, Barking, Essex, I have been able to dispense with one oftwo steam-boilers formerly in use, thus reducing the consumption of coalthirty-four per cent, the quality of coal and the amount of work doneremaining unaltered.

Though this invention relates, in the first in stance, to theutilization of exhaust-steam of engines which are to be met with inevery sulphuricacid works possessing Gay-Lussac and Glover towers, it isobvious that the exhauststeam from any other engine which happens to bedischarged into the open air in the vicinity of sulphuric-acid chambersmay be utilized as before described, even if this exhaust-steam shouldbe derived from an engine supplied with steam from a different boiler ata different pressure, for the regularity of pressthe needed in thechamber steam-pipes will thereby not be affected, but will still bemaintained by the valves R and S. In fact, the

use of exhaust steam in the manufacture of sulphuric acid may be carriedwith advantage to the point at which the sum total of the thus collectedquantity of exhaust-steam equals the total quantity of steam needed inthe chambers; hence only after this point has been passed is there goodreason to employ in the vicinity of sulphuric-acid chambers engines fromwhich there is no escape of exhaust-steam, properly speaking-e. g., theso-called condensing-engiues.

Finally, I beg to state that I do not restrict myself to theabove-stated pressure of forty and ten pounds per square inch as theonly ones which may be used. I merely have men- 50 tioned thesepressures as those at which I have obtained very satisfactory results.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my saidinvention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare thatwhat I claim is-- The method herein described of utilizing theexhaust-steam of the engine or engines in manufacturing sulphuric acid,which consists in leading the exhauststeam from the engine or enginesinto the leaden chambers, to be utilized therein in the formation of theacid, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereto set my hand this 6th day ofSeptember, 1886.

H. J. I. SPRENGEL.

Witnesses:

GEO. O. DOWNING,

8 Quality Court, London, W. C. ERNEST LIDDELL,

17 Gracech'mch St, London, E. O.

